Water-elevator.



No. s48,|o|. Patemd Apr. 24, |900.

.1. w. cAnPENTEn.

WATER ELEVATOB.

(Application led Nov. 7, 1899.) (No Hodel.)

ED STATES JOIIN VESLEY CARPENTER, OF BRIDGEWATER, VIRGINIA.

WATER-ELEVATO.

SPECIFICATION forming pari'. of Letters Patent No. 648,101, dated April 24, 1900.

Application iiled November 7, 1899. Serial No. 736,150. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern.y

Be it known that I, JOHN WESLEY CARPEN- TER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgewater, in the county of Rockingham and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Water-Elevator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to water-elevators in general, and more particularly to that class known as compressed-air water-elevators and including a submerged tank having an air-inlet opening and a water outlet or discharge opening and having also a valve water-inlet opening, the object of the invention being to provide an efficient construction in which the valve of the water-inlet opening will automatically open and close at the proper time and in which the valve will be more firmly seated as the pressure increases.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which similar numerals of reference designate like and corresponding parts in both views, Figure l is a vertical central section of the submerged tank constructed in accordance with the present invention and showing the positions of the several openings and of the Water-inlet valve. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the water-inlet valve.

Referring now to the drawings, 5 represen ts a preferably metallic tank, which is cylindrical in form and whichhas a bottom 6 and a head 7, the latter having a central opening 8, the wall of which is beveledinwardly, as shown at 9, to form an extended valve-seat- Riveted or otherwise secured to the inner face of thehead 7 is the narrowed end l0 of the projecting portion of a flexible flap ll, of leather or other suitable material, and which is adapted to fit over the opening 8 and to completely close it, the periphery of the flap being adapted to extend beyond the edge of the opening. The iiap ll forms the upper end of a cylindrical ioat l2, which is open at its lower end and which acts to raise the flap l1 against the head 7 of the tank when the water within the tank rises to a suitable height. The flap ll thusforrns a valve which coperates with the seat 9 and which is in effect a float-valve due to theoperation of the cylindrical float l2.

Connected with the side of the tank 5 and opening into the tank directly below the head 7 is an air-inletpipe l3,which is adapted to supply air to the tank from a suitable source, and opening also into the tank through a side thereof and directly abovethe bottom 6 is a water-outlet pipe le, through which the water passes from the tank and upwardly and out of the Well or cistern in which the tank is immersed.

In practice the tank is placed in the water of a well or cistern or in any other body of water and entirely below the surface thereof, when the flap-Valve ll will hang downwardly and into' the tank, thereby permitting water to pass into the tank through the opening 8. When the waterhas reached the proper height in the tank, its buoyant action upon the float l2 will act to raise the latter and will corre= spond-ingly move the flap ll and cause it to cover the opening 8. The pipe 14 is extended upwardly to a suitable distance, and, with the pipe 13, is connected to an air-pump of any desired style and by means of which air is forced through the pipe 13 and into the tank. As air is forced into the tank it displaces the water therein and forces it outwardly and up- Wardly through the pipe 14, the air at the samev time exerting its pressure upon the iap ll and bulging it upwardly, and thereby increasing the extent of the contact between the flap and the valve-seat 9. As the column ofv water in the pipe 14 increases in height, the tendency for the air to escape through the opening 8 is increased, and this tendency is overcome by the further bulging of the iiap 11 and the consequent extension of the contacting surface of the flap. This action of the flap therefore serves to automatically balance the objectionable tendency of the excessive pressure. W'hen the contents of the tank 5 have been exhausted, there is a free passage of the compressed air outwardly of the pipe 14, and in consequence the pressure within the tank drops, when the flap-valve 1l leaves its seat 9, due to the pressure of the water plus the weight of the valve and its attached cylinder, and the water rushes in until the tank is lled. The action above described may be then repeated.

It will of course be understood that the tank 5 may have any desired specific shape,that the several parts may have any desired propor- IOO gaging the flap beyond the edge of the valved seat, whereby the valve will be prevented from buckling. t

2. In a Water-elevator,the combination With a tank having an air-inlet opening and a water-outlet opening, of a Water-inlet opening having a tapered va1veseat,'a flexible and elastic ap-va1ve adapted to lie across the water-inlet opening and move into and out of engagement with the tapered portion of the va1ve-seat, and a float secured to the flapvalve and consisting of an open-ended cylinder secured at its upper end to theliapvalve exteriorly of the line of the valve-seat, said cylinder acting to prevent buckling of the Hap-valve.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afxed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOI-IN WESLEY CARPENTER.

Witnesses:

M. M. DIXON, E. KEMP JONES. 

